"Operation cancelled"

I first arrived at The new building June 24th 2014 7am for an operation id been waiting 2 years for after waiting 2 hours to be called in the small medi room. I finally went through and signed consent form, another hour had passed before I seen The surgeon and he's marked me and told me what he was going to do 30 minutes later he came back and told me the machine had broken and they could wait an hour for the little piece to come or send me home so they sent me home. My new date was 24th July so I arrived back at the new building for 7am like last time I was seen by the nurse signed the consent form and had bloods taken. The surgeon came and seen me explained about the operation and I was told id be going down about 11/12 so I was placed in a gown to get ready and taken my pre meds.time had gone and it was now 1:30 I was told to drink some water till 2:30 which I waited 30 minutes to get and that id be now going down at 3. At 3pm the surgeon had come round to see me and to tell me that they've cancelled again the second time it had been cancelled when I've taken the gown off I am now covered in small lumps which look like bites that I didn't have before I arrived .I'm a 17year old girl who had been waiting 2 years for this operation that would change my life now having to wait again for a new date!

Responses

Dear Anonymous – I was sorry to read of your understandable distress and upset at having your operation cancelled not once, but twice. Clearly this is not what we would wish for any of our patients. Regrettably the merging of two hospitals and transfer to a new building resulted in a number of problems, and some of these effected the specialised pumped air systems in the new Theatres, designed as part of the greatly improved infection control measures. However, these issues are now resolved and the new theatres are working normally delivering much improved facilities for patients. This situation together with the need to rebook all outpatient clinics in the new Brunel Building has mean that unfortunately planning to ensure available resources including consultant availability has required adjustments that have impacted on some patients. Please be assured operations would only be cancelled after all other options are considered, but patient safety is always our priority. Theatre lists are planned and booked based on historical data about the level of expected emergency operations in order to ensure sufficient capacity for elective surgery is available. This is because we understand the planning that many patients have to undertake ahead of their surgery. I know that the team concerned will be doing everything they can to ensure that you do not need to have your procedure cancelled again. I was sorry to read of your issues with the hospital gown provided. I wish to assure you we have had no other related reports of similar issues from other patients and that all linen is carefully laundered before issue, so I cannot explain why you suffered the reaction you described. I hope that your procedure proceeds very soon and I wish you all the best for a successful outcome. Kind Regards - Steve Sykes Advice and Complaints Team